Saturday, October 29, 2016

It is tempting to think that those
who seem to have it all in this world are God’s favorites whose success is a
reward for holiness and virtue. It is
appealing to think that God’s kingdom is simply an eternal manifestation of the
arrangements of this world, of life as we know it, where the powerful usually
lord it over the weak and the rich almost always seem to get their way.

The parable
of Lazarus and the rich man powerfully warns again that temptation, for it
shows that those who love, worship, and serve only themselves ultimately become
blind to Christ as they encounter Him in their poor and needy neighbors. It shows that God’s reign is a great reversal
where the humble will be exalted, blessed, and comforted, while the high and
mighty will be put down. The issue, of
course, is not simply how much money one has, but whether we have opened our
souls in humility to personal union with the Lord such that His mercy, love,
and holiness have become characteristic of us.
The issue is whether we have been healed of the ravages of sin, whether
our spiritual vision has been filled with light that overcomes the darkness
within us. Ultimately, the question is whether
we have become living icons of Jesus Christ.

The rich
man ignored the clear teachings of Moses and the prophets on his obligation to
care for his poor neighbors. By
literally stepping over the wretched beggar Lazarus on his front porch time and
time again, he blinded himself to the humanity of one created in the image and
likeness of God and with whom Christ identified Himself as “the least of these
my brethren.” He ignored God every time
that he ignored his neighbor. This
blindness became so characteristic of the rich man that, once he departed this
life, he was unable to behold the brilliant glory of God and could perceive only
a tormenting flame. St. Isaac the Syrian
referred to the sufferings of those in Hades as “the scourge of love.” In other words, God’s love remains eternally,
but some become so distorted by self-centeredness, disregard for their neighbors,
and hatred of God that they are incapable of experiencing being in the presence
of the Lord as anything other than the torment of “bitter regret.” They suffer the consequences of their own
self-imposed rejection of a relationship with Him.

We do not
yet have the eyes to see it, but everything that we say, do, and think in this
life shapes who we are before God, both now and for eternity. That is
especially true in matters relating to other people, particularly those who are
needy, inconvenient, and easy to overlook.
Whether we liked it or not, our Lord has identified Himself with
them. If we say that we love and serve
Him while disregarding the poor, sick, and lonely, we are simply deceiving
ourselves.

Our Lord brought salvation to the
world by lowering Himself even to the point of death on the Cross, burial in a
tomb, and descent into Hades. He went to
the place of the dead in order to look for fallen Adam and Eve and to set them,
and all the departed, free from the slavery to sin and death that had so
distorted their ancient glory as those created to become like God in
holiness. Having lowered Himself out of
love, Christ rose in glory and brought them into the eternal presence of
God.

We will
take our place in this narrative of salvation by manifesting in our own lives
the descent of the Savior into a world corrupted by sin and death out of love
for others. We will find the healing of our souls as we learn to see, serve,
and love Christ in the people we encounter every day. The point is not to attempt to use God in
order to get what we want in this life or the next, but instead to find the
fullness of life in Him by joining ourselves to the selfless offering that Lord
has made on the Cross for the salvation of the world. We will have good hope of rising with Him in
glory when we serve Him in the Lazaruses we encounter daily. Already today,
right now, we may participate in the great reversal of God’s Kingdom by
blessing those who are last in the world as we know it. In serving them, we serve Jesus Christ. When we call out for His mercy as we struggle
to live faithfully in this way, we will behold a measure of the divine glory
and find ourselves already participating in the eternal Reign of God.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

If you are like
me, you often do not recognize yourself in your own words, thoughts, and
deeds. Sometimes we see how we fall
short in an instant, while other times it becomes clear to us in retrospect,
perhaps even years later. Regardless, it
is so easy for us all to be so consumed by anger, pride, lust, envy, and other disordered
desires that we lose control of ourselves and act more like a bundle of
inflamed passions than like a person created in God’s image and likeness. And then when we calm down and come to our
senses, we are understandably ashamed and embarrassed. It is a great blow to our egos to recognize
how easily our sense of self disintegrates before the passions that so often run
wild within us.

When
we recognize this difficult truth about ourselves, we can understand at least a
bit why the man in today’s gospel lesson wanted to leave his hometown and
follow Jesus Christ. He had been so
filled with demons that he said his name was Legion. He had not lived a recognizably human
existence, for he was naked, in a cemetery, and without family or friends. Everyone was terrified of him, and even
shackles and chains could not restrain him.
He had become a monster and people fled from him in fear. But after the Lord delivered him from the
forces of evil, this fellow was clothed and in his right mind. The transformation was so shocking that his
neighbors were terrified to the point of asking Christ to leave town.

Imagine
how this poor man felt at that point. Even
as he must have been overjoyed at his deliverance, he knew that everyone he
encountered was well aware of his miserable past. They had seen him as a crazy, dangerous, and
evil person and had wanted nothing to do with him. Instead of simply thanking Christ for
delivering him, these people asked the Lord to leave their region. They were deeply disturbed by what had
happened. Of course, this man was at the
center of the controversy and he wanted to put it all behind him. So he wanted to follow the One Who had given
him back his life and his true identity.

That
is not what the Lord had in store for him, however, for He told him to stay in
his town and tell everyone about what God had done for him. Perhaps that was
because there could have been no greater witness to the good news of Christ’s
salvation than the living testimony of someone who had so obviously been set
free from the forces of evil, who had so obviously been given back his life as
a human being. The people of that
region did not understand Who Christ was or what it meant to encounter Him in
their lives. They had been simply afraid
of Him. But perhaps through the
persistent witness of someone who had been so wretched and depraved and then
became a healthy and whole person again, their eyes would be opened. Perhaps then they would come to see that they
too needed the blessing of the One Who restored “Legion” to his true self.

Surely,
one of the reasons that many people do not take Christianity seriously today is
that they do not encounter people who lives are visibly different because of
their commitment to Jesus Christ. Many
in our culture equate being a Christian with simply being a good citizen or a
nice person. Many have realized that it
is quite possible to be a good citizen and a nice person without being a
Christian. Some who claim to be Christians do not attend a church of any
kind. Some who do attend services do not
live in ways different from anyone else in our culture. If we water down our Orthodox Christian faith
to the point that it concerns only what we do for a couple of hours on Sunday, we
will fit right in with the dominant trends of our culture that lead people not
to take Christ seriously. If our
participation in the Body of Christ does not strengthen, heal, and transform us
for lives of holiness, then we will not bear witness to what happens when human
beings become their true selves through the blessing of our Savior.

St.
Seraphim of Sarov said, “Acquire the Spirit of peace and a thousand souls
around you will be saved.” In other words, those who are filled with the Holy
Spirit and healed of their passions will live in such a way that their example
will draw others to the Lord. They will
exist as human persons healed, fulfilled, and transformed. They will move from being “Legion” to being
themselves in God’s image and likeness.
They will become living icons of our Lord’s salvation. Whether we like it or not, we all bear
witness to Jesus Christ every day in all that we say and do, whether for good
or bad. Family, friends, coworkers, and
classmates probably know that we are Orthodox Christians, and they likely take
pretty seriously the example that we give them.
If we identify ourselves with Christ and do or say this or that, then
that is what we encourage them to believe about our Lord. If we do not become living icons of holiness,
then we are sending the wrong message to everyone we encounter. If we do not bear powerful testimony by how
we live each day of the healing power of the Savior, then we are being
unfaithful witnesses to Him.

Contrary
to popular opinion, we do not fulfill a religious obligation simply by
attending services on Sunday morning, though we obviously should do so. For Orthodox Christians to think about
fulfilling or meeting perfectly what God desires for us by a particular action is
a contradiction in terms, for our Lord teaches that we are to “be perfect as
our Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) To become a partaker of the
divine nature by grace is an infinite journey, a process of healing and
transformation for which there is no upward limit, for God is infinitely holy. (2
Pet. 1:4) Instead of imagining that we
are mastering a skill or checking off a box, we must remember that our calling
is truly to become like God in holiness.
No matter where we are on the journey, we have an infinite distance yet
to go. And if we ever think that we have
arrived or completed the course, we should think again.

Remembering
that the Savior told the man to stay in his village and proclaim the good news,
we must embrace the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life with integrity
if we are to offer faithful testimony to our Lord. We must fast and deny ourselves if we are to
have any hope of living in a way that shows that human beings are called to
something higher than slavery to self-centered desires. We must forgive those who offend us and
reconcile with those from whom we have become estranged if we are to model an
alternative to the anger, fear, and hatred so powerful in the world today. We must open our hearts to God in prayer on a
daily basis if we are to find the strength to become our true selves in Christ
as opposed to a bundle of inflamed passions.
We must regularly receive the Holy Mystery of Confession in order to
find healing from our sins as we prepare to receive the Body and Blood of the
Lord which enable us to participate even now in the banquet of heaven, the
complete fulfillment of all things in Christ. And then we must make a liturgy
of every moment of our lives, offering ourselves and all our blessings back to
the Lord for Him to use as is best for the salvation of the world.

Whenever
we are embarrassed to do so out of shame for our failings, weaknesses, and
ongoing struggles, we must remember that formerly demon-possessed man. He obeyed Christ by staying in a place where
he did not want to be, among people who probably were not comfortable around
him. Still, he obeyed and proclaimed the
good news by his words and deeds. If we
are truly in Christ and want to bear faithful witness to Him, then we must
swallow our hurt pride and do the same.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

I
have known people who have been troubled by the question of whether God is
primarily characterized by human standards of love or justice. Some of
them have worried that a God of love would simply overlook evil and hold no one
accountable for their actions. Others have reacted against the view that
God is primarily a harsh judge Who is out to get us and to make sure that we
pay our pound of flesh for our sins.

Those with time to spare can have a debate about such abstract matters, as
though God where a math problem that needed solving. But as Orthodox
Christians, our focus must be different, for we humbly embrace God’s truth not
as a speculative idea, but in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is not a
bundle of competing definitions according to the standards of our limited
minds, but the Son of God Who became fully human in order save us out of a
divine compassion beyond our understanding. He lowered Himself, taking on
the form of a servant to the point of death on the Cross, burial in a tomb, and
descent into Hades in order to rise triumphantly over them in His glorious
resurrection on the third day. And He did not do so for His own sake, but
for ours. In Him, we encounter not merely the best human aspirations, but
truly the Lord Himself Who alone is Holy, Holy, Holy.

What does it look like when the Alpha and the
Omega of the universe becomes one of us, living in our corrupt world of sin,
death, and personal brokenness? In today’s gospel text, we have a clear
picture of what it means for the Word to become flesh and dwell among us.
It means that He gives life to the dead and joy and comfort to those who
mourn. Christ had compassion on the widow who had lost her only
son. He consoled her, saying “Do not weep,” and then touched the coffin,
bringing the young man back from death itself.

The Lord’s great act of mercy for this woman is a sign or enacted icon of our
salvation. For we weep and mourn not only for loved ones whom we see no
more, but also for how our own sins, and those of others, have broken, marred,
and distorted the beauty of our world, of our souls, of our relationships, and
of every dimension of our life. Death, destruction, hatred, fear, and decay in
all their forms are the consequences of our refusal to live faithfully as those
created in the image and likeness of God. We have worshipped ourselves,
our possessions and our pride, and found only despair and emptiness as a
result, as well as slavery to our own self-centered desires. So we weep
with the widow of Nain both for losing loved ones and for losing ourselves.

The good news of the Gospel, however, is the unfathomable compassion of our
Savior. Rather than simply observing human suffering and letting us bear the
consequences of our actions, the Father sent the Son to enter into our
suffering, into our distorted and disintegrated world, in order to restore us
to the blessedness for which He created us. He came to heal us, to stop
us from weeping, and even to raise us from the dead into the glory of the
heavenly kingdom. He came to unite us to Himself in holiness. The
Son touched the coffin of the dead man and he arose. Christ’s compassion
for us is so profound that He also entered a coffin, a tomb, and even descended
to Hades, the shadowy place of the dead because, out of love for humankind, He
could not simply stand by and allow us to bear the full consequences of our
actions.

No, our faith is not fundamentally about punishment or wrath for
sinners. It is not focused on the bad news that we get what we
deserve. Instead, we celebrate the good news of the infinite, holy mercy of Christ Who will stop at nothing to bring the one lost sheep back into the fold,
Who is not embarrassed to welcome home the prodigal son, and Who will even
submit to death on a cross in order to destroy it by rising in glory.

Of
course, we have our part to play in responding to His great compassion.
If we identify ourselves with Jesus Christ, if we are members of His Body, the
Church, and are nourished by His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, then His
mercy must become evident in our lives. If we are partakers of the divine
nature in Him, then His life must become ours such that, as St. Paul teaches,
“it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:2)
If we claim to receive Christ’s compassion, then we must extend that same
compassion to others, suffering with them in love, sharing their burdens as
best we can, and going out of our way to show them the mercy that we have found
in our Lord.

If we are to live the Christian life with integrity, we too must have the
courage to relate to others with true compassion as they suffer, mourn, and
live with pain and disorder of whatever kind. Perhaps they brought some
of these conditions upon themselves. Like the rest of us, they have not
always done the right thing and have suffered the consequences of their own bad
choices. In some cases, they may actually believe that what they are
doing is good. In other words, they are a lot like you and me.
Instead of doing the easy and self-righteous thing by simply leaving them to
their allegedly well-deserved misery, we must follow the way of our Lord, Who
did not come to show mercy upon those who deserved it. Remember that
mercy and grace, by definition, are not deserved. The widow of Nain and her
dead son did not deserve the compassion of the Lord, but He showed love to them
anyway. The relevance for our lives should be clear. If we have
integrity as Christians, we will respond to others with the same compassion
that we have experienced in Jesus Christ.

But we need to be
clear: Extending Christ’s compassion to others is not the same thing as
being what our culture calls “a nice person” or making sure that everyone likes
us or that we always tell people what they want to hear. It took
discipline, strength, and courage for the Lord to show compassion throughout
His entire earthly ministry, especially during His journey to the Cross.
And every time that He healed the sick or raised the dead, He knew that the
Pharisees and perhaps the Romans were watching, noticing Him as a threat to
their power. He offended them virtually every step of the way with what
He said and did. If we live and speak with holy compassion, we can be sure
that some will take offense and think that we are crazy or even dangerous. To
be His disciple is not a calling for cowards afraid of their own shadow or for
people addicted to the praise of others, for it requires discipline,
self-control, and a strength of character beyond our own power. It
requires a willingness to be out of step with the dominant ways of the world,
whatever they may be in a given time and place.

Unfortunately, it has become
second nature to defend our egos by damning others, by building ourselves up as
we put others down. Thank God, that is not way of our Lord. If it were,
we would have no hope for salvation. If it were, the dead would be left
in the tombs and the mourners would sorrow alone. But because the Savior
has come to us purely out of love for fallen, broken, sinful humanity, we must
share His compassionate love with everyone we encounter, especially those whom
we are inclined to ignore or condemn for whatever reason. For we do not
relate to Jesus Christ as isolated individuals, but as members of His Body who
share a common life. If we are members of His Body and receive His Body
and Blood in the Eucharist, how can we disregard Him even in “the least of
these” whose hearts and lives are broken, regardless of who is at fault for the
circumstances?

Our Lord is a Person, not an
abstract idea. Prepared by prayer, fasting, and confession, let us unite
ourselves to Him in the Eucharist, receiving His compassionate mercy even as we
extend the same holy concern to our neighbors, loved ones, and enemies.
He came to call sinners to repentance, to heal the sick, and to raise the
dead. He came to save, bless, and restore people as broken as you and
me. If we receive Him, then we must receive them. For as hard
as it is to believe, He works through us to extend His compassion to others.
To be in Him is to become a living icon of His mercy, a personal sign of His salvation.

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Fr. Philip has addressed audiences at St. Herman Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kodiak, AK, and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, NY. He has also earned lots of frequent flyer miles as an invited participant in international Orthodox consultations on social ethics in Greece, Romania, and Syria.

He often introduces visiting groups of students from local universities to the Orthodox faith. He has also spoken about Eastern Christianity at Methodist, Episcopal, and Church of Christ congregations in Abilene. You may listen to his podcasts on www.ancientfaithradio.org. He has also been interviewed on “Come Receive the Light,” an internationally syndicated radio program of the Orthodox Christian Network (www.myocn.net). Anyone wanting to invite him to speak may send an email to: plemasters@mcm.edu.